It would have been completely fair to assume that Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving would keep things relatively quiet at the trade deadline. While there was a need for a third-line centre and some additional defensive depth, he doesn’t exactly have a strong history when it comes to adding much at the deadline, and he’s admitted as such. He firmly believes that you build your team in the draft and free agency, and use the deadline to plug holes.
Well, plug holes he did. And he balled out on the plugs.
It started with the acquisition of Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton, who had been connected to the team for a while before the deadline. Although some fans wanted them to shoot higher on offence, the 30-year-old will bring a strong two-way game, good penalty killing, and underrated secondary scoring ability to a team that desperately needed a permanent third-line solution.
The way that prices were being floated at the deadline, most of the people who weren’t immediately swayed by the idea came from the perspective of not wanting that to be their big (or only) move. And it was neither. Right at the final buzzer of the deadline, the Maple Leafs pulled a shocking deal for Boston Bruins defenceman Brandon Carlo.
The fact that the Leafs and Bruins even made a trade, let alone one involving a legitimate top-four defensive defenceman with two-and-a-half years remaining on his contract was completely unprecedented, but one that forced the fanbase to pay attention. Then again, the Bruins dealt heart-and-soul captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers, so any unspoken rules seemingly burst into flames.
In Treliving’s second-last season with the Calgary Flames, he dealt a first-round pick and other pieces for forward Tyler Toffoli, and padded it with a trade for current Leaf forward Calle Jarnkrok. This was by far his most active deadline during his tenure as general manager there, so the belief that he wasn’t going to do much in terms of adding at the deadline was completely fair. But, right when nobody was expecting it, he did the unthinkable and parted with two first-round picks and two top-5 prospects to not only address his team’s needs, but turn them into potential strengths.
With Laughton down the middle on the third line, he’ll add some defensive stability to a unit that desperately needs it. He logged more penalty-killing minutes than any other forward for the Flyers this season, which will certainly help a Maple Leafs penalty kill that’s slipped to 16th in the league after a strong start to the season. And, even though his 11 goals and 16 assists aren’t the most inspiring of totals, there’s something to be said about playing against other teams’ top lines on a non-contending team versus playing against other teams’ bottom sixes on a contending team.
Sure, he may not be a regular power play contributor and somebody head coach Craig Berube will toss over the boards in 3-on-3 overtime, but he’s far and away a better third-line option than anything they’ve run so far this season. It also helps that the Flyers are retaining 50% of his $3 million cap hit, giving the Leafs a cheap but valuable option to join them for two playoff runs. Even though the price of a 2027 first-round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin was steep, it was essential to not only give themselves some more breathing room on the cap front, but to recoup some draft capital in the form of a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick.
Carlo, on the other hand, was a complete shock. When I say the Leafs needed defensive depth, I and most people expected them to look for an add in the Ilya Lyubushkin/Joel Edmundson realm like last season. Luke Schenn’s name understandably came up a number of times, but it became clear that Treliving was shooting higher. Standing at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, Carlo is essentially a bigger Chris Tanev-style of defenceman. He isn’t a bone-crushing hitter, but his size makes him an extremely valuable asset in front of his own net on the penalty-kill and when it comes to boxing out opposing wingers. He’s blocked 119 shots on the season and also has a heavy slap shot, albeit not one that will find the back of the net too often.
Both Laughton and Carlo made their Leafs debuts in Saturday night’s 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche and offered up a reason for the fans to appreciate them, albeit in different ways. Carlo blocked six shots and led all Leafs in ice time (22:04) and penalty-kill TOI with just over three minutes, and while Laughton had a tough night on the scoresheet, he took accountability for the loss more than anyone else on the team, which is always a ticket to fan appreciation.
It will take these few players a couple of practices to get comfortable with Craig Berube’s system, but ultimately, they’ll fill two of the biggest holes this team has had all season. Nobody expected Treliving to part with both top prospects and first-round picks to address these needs, but he did. And now it’s on the guys on the ice to hold up their end of the bargain.
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